Threshold
by noheartx
Summary: A world they only once dreamed of, Aincrad, the floating castle in the sky. But the line between a dream and a nightmare is thin. What was once a game is now more of a reality than life itself. Was the threshold so far behind, or were they standing upon it all along?


**ROAMER**

 _Day...ah shit. I spilled tea on my journal yesterday and it smudged all of the day numbers. We'll call it thirty-five, because I know I was past thirty._

 _Day 35...ish. Current location: Floor 10. Current frontier: Floor 11._

 _I am Roamer. I mean I know that, but...okay so I may have started licking the pages. I hate wasting tea._

 _Kayaba Akihiko is a sick, sick man. You wouldn't believe the shit I just took. Who programs that kind of burn into a video game? Although I must admit, I am impressed. Which brings up my next note-to-self: avoid spicy food._

 _My cooking skill has proved to be quite useful, but not as useful as I had hoped. I've actually attracted monsters while cooking in the wild. Again, the reality of this world never ceases to amaze me._

 _The Frontliners are preparing to take on a boss, so the wind whispers to me. The wind is very tight-fisted I might add. That girl would never be able to sew herself deep enough pockets. She asked me to join them again, I declined. Not yet….not yet._

 _I'm not ready to take on the responsibility of friendship again. It's too soon. I've worked so hard to become strong, I cannot falter now. I know that day will come, but it's-_

SNAP

A head of thick, dark chestnut hair swiveled around and surveyed the surrounding forest with narrowed mahogany eyes. His gaze lingered on each and every verdant bush, swept across every skylit branch and peered through every stalking shadow as he searched for the source of the noise. The boy rose silently as his breathing muted, his forest green cloak fluttering around his bandage-wrapped legs. The golden trim of the cloak shone brilliantly in the artificial sunlight trickling through the swaying treetops. His hands, sheltered from the elements by black leather gloves, slowly crept to the ornate sword sheathed in a black scabbard on his waist. The material of his green tunic made no noise as he moved, exactly the reason he had bought it.

SNAP

"Shit." He whirled around and took off in the opposite direction from where the sound was coming from, his cape whipping in the wind behind him. He knew he was a relatively high level, but he had no desire to deal with something that had such a high Sneak score that he couldn't immediately detect it.

His feet pounded against the forest floor in rhythmic motion, kicking up dirt and leaves in the wake behind him. He felt a burst of adrenaline rush through his veins and electrify his perception as he jumped to his right, rolling through the dirt and leaves into a crouching battle stance. He flourished his sword and dashed forward in one motion, his sword catching a bright white glow as it streaked through the forest air, unleashing the Zantetsuken skill upon his pursuer.

His blade cleanly sliced through a slab of flesh from his beast of a pursuer. Malevolent streams of crimson lifeblood seeped out of the monster's wound. Roamer's gaze locked onto his own reflection staring back at him from the murky depths of the viscous liquid. He blinked once and wasted no time as he pulled his blade out of the haunch of the striped feline and brought his blade around, cleanly slicing through its leg. A sickening crunch signalled the loss of the creature's leg, eliciting a ferocious roar that could have woken the trees from their eternal slumber. The waning sunlight gleamed off of the platinum blade as Roamer jumped back to gain a breadth of space. The Feral Stalker fumbled around, unable to move correctly without it's leg, howling and growling promises of revenge. Knowing this was his chance, Roamer closed the distance between them within the blink of an eye and impaled it through it's roaring maw. The blade cleanly sliced through the roof of its mouth through its brain, killing it instantly with a Critical Hit!. He pulled his blade out and wiped the blood off with his cloak as the body toppled over, crimson spilling out from the wound, tainting the ground beneath it. Above the corpse the familiar loot and experience window appeared, and Roamer tapped on it with satisfaction.

"Hmm...yes, yes, yes. Awesome." He took all of the loot and then opened his own inventory, depositing it feeling relieved and satisfied. The piece of armor he had received had been particularly intriguing. He was keen on the name it possessed: Prince of the Jungle. He opened up an info screen on the weapon and his eyes bulged.

"Sweet mother of defense boosts." The boosts it gave were miles ahead of his current armor, and he already had some of the best available armor for the style of battle he was going for. It was a full body equip, so it would unequip all of his other equipment, which might lose him a few buffs, but that was irrelevant because he could just get someone to upgrade it if need be. "Alright let's try this baby on." A click and a flash later found him in his brand new armor. He noticed right away that he felt more of a breeze than he expected. A lot more of a breeze. He looked down.

"Oh you've got to be-" He couldn't even finish the thought out of pure frustration. He was now basically naked, save for the fluffy, tiger-stripe pattern banana hammock that only blocked his genitals from view. Barely. He sighed and quickly switched back to his old armor set, and then pulled out his journal once more.

 _New Critical Hit Record: 268 DMG. (Stabbed tiger through brain)_

 _The rare drop was a pair of tiger-skin panties. Furry tiger skin panties._

 _Kayaba Akihiko, you are a sick, sick man._

 _And I will find you, and I will fucking kill you for trapping us in this twisted game of yours and turning us into your goddamn playthings._

XxX

Roamer liked to 'follow the wind' as he would phrase it. Of course, he was really following the direction of the information given to him by the master informant 'The Rat'. He had told her such a name had a dissentient ring to it, so he had decided upon a new nickname for her. For 'The Wind' always carried whispers on the tails of her breeze...

She had called him a romantic dildo.

And then he'd asked her to marry him on the spot.

And then she asked _'Who are you, Maeby?"_.

He asked her to marry him again.

Maybe he was a romantic dildo. Either way, he enjoyed her company immensely.

Ever since then, she had been his sole connection to the rest of the Sword Art Online world and its inhabitants. And it was through her that he had learned about what may have been the rarest weapon in the game. And it wasn't even a damn sword.

" _Look, this information is top secret. For-Your-Eyes-Only-Burn-After-Reading-Here's-Your-Cyanide-Capsule top secret." Aigo reiterated for the twelfth time._

" _Ooo, it comes with a cyanide capsule? Gimme gimme." Roamer responded in a dog-like tone. She shook her head, holding back a slight grin._

" _I'm fucking serious Roamer. You cannot tell anyone. There's only one other person who knows, and it's the guy who told me, and you do not want to run into him under the wrong circumstances. I'm only telling you because I have a bad feeling you'll end up running into him regardless, and I trust you." Her eyes could have pierced Adamantine then, and he sobered up and nodded at her._

" _Is he really that much of a threat?" Roamer asked, genuinely curious. He knew Aigo did not bullshit. Her info was always, so far, worth every penny._

" _Only if you give him a reason to be." She answered somewhat cryptically, but he got the gist of it._

" _Alright. What is it?"_

"A fucking crossbow. Who woulda thought? Why do you do the things you do Kayaba?" Roamer asked aloud to himself in rhetorical fashion; a constant habit of his. His feet padded against the soft mossy ground as he walked through the misty terrain. Cool, microscopic globules of water splashed across his face sending rippling chills across his pale skin. He couldn't see that far in front of him, which was certainly not ideal, but this was on a lower floor, so the enemies here were ones he was familiar with. Unless this godforsaken game had patched that too.

Actually, there was a very good chance of that. A few theories on that subject had formed in his mind recently. The leather in his gloves stretched as his grip on his sword tightened.

His sword was his prized possession. He had it crafted the moment he found a smith who was skillful enough. It was made from a rare metal, Thumpite, that he had gotten from defeating a dancing dinosaur. An odd quest that one was. It was a standard longsword, though it had an ornamental handle decorated with some black jewels he had acquired. The handle curved down around his fist on one side, almost like a guard, and he used it as such. The metal itself had a snow-white sheen to it, though in the light it glowed a pure platinum color; quite the surreal effect. And its stats were pretty incredible too; by his guesstimate, he wouldn't be able to find a weapon that outclassed his current one until at least Floor 20. He had dubbed it Thumpnarok, in reference to the name of the metal it was crafted from, and how it would be his tool to bring ruin to this world.

And even now in the mist it seemed to glow, as if it were guiding his way. His feet slowly crept forward, inch by inch, his eyes making sure to survey every angle from which an enemy could come.

"So thick…" He mumbled to himself, continuing to focus as wariness tickled the edges of his perception. He carried on like this for a little bit, before he realized that the ground was slowly opening up more and more as he progressed, signaling the mist was dissipating ever so slightly. Slowly the view of a giant tree came into view, though the tree did not grow straight to the sky. Rather, it grew out and forwards from his direction, as if it were hanging over something, reaching out as far as it could. What it's branches desperately grasped for he could not say. His pace quickened as he reached the tree, his hand slowly caressing the coarse bark as if to make sure it was real, and he almost shuddered at the solid contact. It was real, as real as real could be defined in this world that is. He went to take a step forward when he saw the ground open up in front of him. His breath caught in his throat as he saw the swirling miasma of mist dive down, deep into the nether regions of the game. How far down exactly, he didn't know, nor did he care to.

"A cliff...you've gotta be shitting me." His eyes roamed out across the rolling clouds of mist into the void where they met the boundaries of their reach. Though he knew there was nothing out there. Even this world had its limits.

"What do you see?" A lone, melancholy voice fluttered down from the leaves and Roamer's eyes shot open as he whirled around, his eyes frantically searching for the source. There up in the tree was a lone player, covered in bruises, scratches and caked mud, precariously perched upon a sullen branch, his legs dangling listlessly above the heavens. By the way he looked, Roamer guess he had been up there no less than a week.

"Holy- what the hell man?" Roamer shouted, clearly agitated, as he stared up at the lone player.

"What do you see out there?" The player asked, unfazed by the sudden outburst. Roamer blinked and turned his head for a moment, his gaze extending out across the void, before turning back.

"Nothing."

"How your eyes lie to you." The player rasped apathetically, devoid of any emotion. "I see salvation." It was but a whisper on the lone player's lips, but it carried the weight of the words of a revolution. Roamer's eyes widened.

"Hey man. Listen, we're on Floor 12 already. It's only been a bit more than a month, I mean - I know that's a long time - but progress has been made. You don't have to-"

"Lying eyes...everything is..." And at that moment Roamer felt helpless. He watched as the light drifted from the man's eyes along with the last glimmer of hope to clutch onto. The player simply closed his eyes and let his body go slack. And nothing seemed to happen for a split second before his body slowly...slowly...began to tip over and slide off the branch.

"Wait! WAIT!" Roamer's words were swept up in the wind as the lone player's body slipped away and plunged head-first through the mist into the cradle of gravity, where it would decompose into bits of meaningless data. His eyes could not leave the spot where the body had punctured through and been swallowed whole by the shroud of mist. His heart sunk deep into the pit of his stomach, and he desperately wished for some sort of miracle. But alas, as he waited, and the mist tickled his eyes, and the wind caressed his hair, he knew it was fruitless. There would be no miracle. And as he looked out across the empty cloud of mist, he realized his answer had indeed been wrong before. With that, he turned around and made his way back into the forest, though he would not forget this. He had caught the player's name at the last second.

"Was it salvation you saw, Harbinger? Or was it fear?"

 **ASUNA**

"Kayaba Akihiko, you are one sick, sick man."

She shouldn't have been surprised. Not at the fact that the vile mastermind would program such a feature, nor at the fact that this particular feature had yet to be mentioned by any of the female players in the game. But it was staring her right in the face; a subtle, misogynistic prick to her pride from the mind of Kayaba Akihiko.

Asuna was proud to be a woman, though a fresh one at eighteen she may have been. Especially in this virtual world, one so dominated by the male persuasion. She found great meaning and strength in her ability to act as a role model in this world. As an idol for the other female players who believed themselves incapable of forging the road to freedom. Like she had once believed, almost a month ago now, since the Death Game had begun, and this dreamscape of a realm had morphed into the hellish abaddon the players knew it as.

But this…- this was just an insult. And she could only silently grit her teeth as stared the information window hovering, almost tauntingly, in front of her.

 _-1 Bleeding Damage for Womanly Cycle_

"How the hell am I supposed to stop that?" Her brows knit tightly together as her frustration swelled in her chest, chestnut locks swaying gently in the breeze, highlighted by the orange hues that glowed in the artificial sunlight. Not to be outshined by the luscious locks, her pearl white chestplate too took on a gleaming sheen like a sunlight snowscape. The pleated skirt she wore was plain red, with a small trim of white at the bottom around the hem; her sleeveless undershirt simply white. And draped around her shoulders was a simple rec, hooded cloak that kept her safe from the elements. Her tender, hazel tinted eyes darted left and right, seeking anyone who could possibly aid her. A sigh escaped the threshold of her delicate lips, one loaded with exasperation, as she reached out with her pale finger, causing the holographic apparition to vanish.

"I could tell you...for 100 Col." Asuna jumped as a familiar voice crept up to her ears, seemingly manifesting from thin air, as the owner of said voice was known for.

"Dammit don't sneak up on me like that Aigo! And I can't believe you would charge me for that!" Asuna flared at the younger girl she found hiding in her own shadow. Petite and adorable would be a gross understatement when describing the young, fourteen year old Aigo, better known as 'The Rat', the shrewdest information peddler in the game. The glint in her calculating brown eyes and the surreptitious grin under her cherubic button nose was a common expression for her to wear; she was always privy to something you weren't, and she loved every second of it. Of course, by far the most striking part of her aesthetic, and the most popular as well, was her Cat Ear Hood: a child-sized, tattered, green cloak with two furry, pink cat ears sewn on top. To complete her feline aesthetic, she added three whisker marks, drawn in make-up, to each cheek. There was a story behind those markings, though Asuna was not willing to pay up the coin to let Aigo regale her with it.

"You've been hanging around Kirito too much; your language has gone foul." Aigo teased through a grin, waving a hand in front of her crinkled nose. "I'll let the fee slide this time, my little Tangerine, but don't expect it to happen too often."

"I hate that nickname." Was the older girl's begrudging response, huffing and blowing an errant strand of hair out of her eye. The chime of an information panel appearing caused Asuna to clench her fists and exhale through her nose irritably.

 _-1 Bleeding Damage for Womanly Cycle_

"Please just tell me."

"Of course." Aigo looked around carefully and leaned in, forcing Asuna to lean in as well. "You can use your Crafting skill to create anything in this game. To cure this particular...issue...all you need is a fluff of cotton and some string." Aigo explained nonchalantly. Asuna's eyes widened and a blush crept across her face.

"You mean-"

"Don't say it. We've managed to keep it a secret from the boys so far." Aigo's eyebrows wiggled as she brought a finger to Asuna's lips, though since she was so petite she had to reach to her own eye level to do it. Asuna gently pulled the finger away and sighed.

"Kayaba you are a sick, sick man." Asuna reiterated, smiling at Aigo. "Thank you Aigo. I appreciate the info."

"That's what I'm here for. Have you seen Kirito by the way? I have something for him." The younger girl questioned as she bounced on the balls of her feet and twisted her head each way looking for said boy. Asuna couldn't help but giggle as Aigo's ears bounced around. She playfully flicked one, causing the younger girl to hop back and glare at her older counterpart.

"I was looking for him myself. You know how he is." Asuna answered, her lips curving downward ever-so-slightly.

"A troublemaker that one is. C'mon, we'll find him together." The young cat-girl suggested, which Asuna was happy to go along with. They fell into step beside one another as they strode along the trodden, grassy path before them. Warriors, merchants, smithies and other players of all kinds mingled and worked around them as they made their way through the current Base Camp. Portable tents had been erected in rows upon the grassy plain, made of tough, thick-black, padded Viperskin and held up with solid Bambythril beams. Unfortunately, the tent Asuna had happened to peer into was the Med Tent, where she caught an eyeful more gore than even this supposedly 17+ rated game should have contained. That was the first severed limb she had seen, both in reality and in the SAO world. And then the weight of the reality of this world came crashing over her once more like the tide upon the sand under the reigns of the moon.

"Do you think we can really win this game one day?" Eyes glazed over like pools of sorrow, Asuna asked the question that pervaded everyone's mental process day in and day out. Like a plague the seemingly innocuous question would travel from cheek to cheek, though answers were few and far between.

"We will. Look around you. Who would have thought all of this was capable? We've come a long way." As Aigo motioned around Asuna really took it in. She saw a pair of swordsmen dueling each other off to the side under a tree, each of them sweating like animals as they trained, fueled by the force of their will. An older woman stood under the shade of a tent while she watched the body of a slaughtered Lesser Tuskoar roast on a spigot, its ivory-colored tusks crackling and popping in sync with the fire. A young boy was trying to fasten the straps of a suit of armor that was clearly too large for him. He ended up toppling over and slamming his bulbous head on the metallic breastplate, causing an older, battle-wearied man to chuckle and amble over to assist the boy.

"I guess you're right…" Her eyes drifted further down the road, where she saw a guy lazing about in the grass, absentmindedly chewing on a stalk of wheat. The sight made her blood boil like a pot roasting on the flames of a phoenix. How could someone sleep when there was so much work to be done? Their lives were on the line, and every day spent in this forsaken land… "We can never get back what we lose though, can we?"

"No. We can't. But, there's always something else in front of you to take for yours, isn't there?" Asuna's head cocked curiously at the younger girl's words. "And you know, the more players that come together to fight as one, the larger chance we'll have to win. There is strength in numbers." Like a wizened sage she bestowed her perceptions, stroking a phantom beard with her dainty fingers. Asuna suspected that if Aigo were able to grow a beard, it would be of marvelous beard-portions.

"That, there is. I just wish Kirito saw it that way…" It was no secret that one of the game's strongest players and consistent boss clearers was a selfish loner who had been a beta tester and used that advantage to get ahead of the curve. The real secret though, known only by those who cared to find out, was that most of the negative commentary about Kirito was vastly exaggerated. If it weren't for him there were multiple floors they would not have cleared, and multiple lives they would have added to the already stomach-churning body count.

"Kirito will be Kirito. That's the most I've been able to get out of him." Aigo responded with a shrug. "My little Ki-bou, all alone in the world. It just grips your heart with sadness doesn't it?" She over-dramatically swooned and clutched her heart.

"Ki-bou?" Asuna questioned, looking strangely at the girl. Aigo dropped her act and grinned devilishly.

"My nickname for him. He hates it. But he's so easy to flirt with, I can't help it."

"You flirt with him!?" Asuna exclaimed suddenly, her face heating up again. She quickly looked down at the ground as they kept a steady pace, hoping the reaction was not noticed.

"Duh. He's adorable."

"...Does he flirt back?" Asuna squeaked out meekly. Aigo blinked a few times before bursting out into laughter. "What are you laughing at?!" After a few moments Aigo's laughter lulled to a giggle and she wrapped her arm around Asuna's, purring sweetly along with the cuddle. She looked up at her sultrily.

"I'm not telling. He's suuuch a cutie though, isn't he?" The young informant drawled dreamily.

"What are you-"

"Oh look there he is! KI-BOU!" Aigo daintily hopped away, winking and leaving Asuna to stutter to herself before she snapped out of it and followed. The boy known as Kirito turned around, his attention pulled away from the sword he was inspecting, one of the finer pieces the merchant had to offer.

"Aigo, I've been - oof!" He was cut off as the bundle of energy crashed into his belly and engulfed him in a full on body squeeze; her legs strapped around his torso and her arms intertwined around his neck.

"You've been what? Looking for me? It's been a week since we last talked! Don't you know about the one-day rule?" She chided like a jilted lover, leaning back to admire the blush she knew would be spreading across his face like wildfire.

"Aigo...please…" Kirito gasped out through strained breath. He had no idea what do with his his hands, so they were just sort of...floating...awkwardly in the vicinity of Aigo's back, as he just...balanced himself. Of course, this was the scene that Asuna caught up to the two in. Her face shooting up two more shades on the red light wave scale as she saw Aigo wrapped around Kirito. Then her and Kirito's eyes met.

"Asuna!" Immediately he forced Aigo off of him, and she plopped butt-first onto the ground. She 'harumphed' as Asuna just stared at the black haired boy, her eyes darting away as his shifted in her direction.

"That was not nice Ki-bou." Aigo frowned as Kirito's attention was drawn back to her. She was pouting adorably.

"I know, I'm sorry, but you do things like wrap your legs around me and…" He looked up between the two girls a few times. "And…" Asuna had to admit, he was quite adorable when he was fumbling for his words, though she wouldn't dare show any hint of that with Aigo around.

"And it sets your body alight with electricity doesn't it?" Aigo purred as she leaned into him, caressing his stomach. He chuckled nervously as he met Asuna's eyes which were now locked on to the wiggling fingers near the hem of his shirt. He laid his hand over Aigo's and gently removed it from his body.

"So did you have that information for me?" Kirito asked, trying desperately to change the subject. Again Aigo's hand found it's way to the hem of his shirt, her fingers playfully fiddling with the material and he batted it away comically. She frowned and sighed.

"Straight to business as usual. One of these days Kirito, you'll succumb to my charms."

"It's a wonder I haven't already Aigo." He replied with just a tinge of sarcasm, still gazing at Asuna. Aigo directed her gaze towards Asuna as well.

"See? So much fun to flirt with."

"The information, Aigo."

"Aye aye, keep your sword in your pants. First the gold." She demanded, slipping into her business persona effortlessly. Kirito simply nodded and with the wave of his hand his menu popped up. He made a few clicks and swipes and then another window popped up in front of Aigo. With a successful PING! she closed the window and clicked her tongue. Asuna could have swore she saw dollar bill signs in Aigo's eyes for a split second. "Where to begin...well, I found one. I was even able to pick it up and stash it in my inventory."

"I'm assuming I'm gonna have to pay extra for you to give it to me?"

"That's why I like you so much Ki-bou. You're always just a step ahead of everyone else." She purred, leaning into him again. He gently grasped her shoulders and leaned her back to a standing position, which earned another pout.

"What did you find?" Asuna asked, though after a moment she gasped and covered her mouth. "I'm sorry, I know you paid Aigo to get this info Kirito. That was rude." She apologized, though he waved her off with no worries.

"It's okay, you were the first person I was going to tell." Kirito mentioned. Asuna felt her cheeks warm up as he turned to Aigo. "I can pay you later, I need to complete another quest first."

"Oh I can never say no to you. Fine, here." After another few moments of menu work, Kirito found a new item in his inventory. He clicked on it and with a mesmerizing twinkle of light, it coalesced in his hand. Asuna was expecting something more magnificent, but it was just a wooden spike with a metal tip on the end.

"What is it?" The older girl asked, her eyes clearly expressing her lack of an impression.

"A Bambythril tipped Ainwood crossbow bolt." Kirito replied astutely. "Well crafted too, as far as I can tell. I'm not too practiced on my Crafting skills, but it looks like someone put time into this." He quickly put the item away, looking around to see if anyone noticed.

"Oh. I didn't know they had things like bows and arrows in this game." Asuna replied. "Do you need to find a certain quest to obtain one? I haven't seen anyone in the camp with one." She observed, bringing a finger to her chin.

"No, there are no ranged weapons in Sword Art Online." Kirito responded neutrally.

"But you just…" She pointed at Kirito, and looked between her two friends a couple times. "I'm confused?"

"Hmm, well I should rephrase that. There are no ranged weapons in SAO other than small, auxiliary throwing knives." He then looked around suspiciously. "We shouldn't talk about this here, I already feel like a dumbass for even pulling it out in the open. Hopefully no one is paying attention. Follow me, we'll get away from the crowd." The boy suggested, though he really left no room for negotiation.

"I could watch you walk in front of me all day Kirito." Aigo cooed mischievously, causing Kirito to roll his eyes. Asuna followed with a slight frown.

"Who's the real troublemaker here?"

Kirito led them to a small campsite situated in a small clearing just beyond the edge of the campsite. Asuna frowned as she looked at his meager homestead: a small, roughshod teepee and a fire pit with a pathetically small, beat up cooking pot situated on an apparatus above.

"Kirito is getting new cookware for his birthday." Aigo stated, giving the pathetic pot a passing glance.

"You don't even know when my birthday is." Kirito shot back through a grin.

"...5000 Col."

"No deal."

"Dammit Ki-bou." Aigo huffed and pursed her lips, which only earned another chuckle from him.

"Who refuses the offer of a birthday gift?" Asuna questioned bizarrely, sending a weird look at Kirito.

"She could use her Col for better things. It's not important right now." He deflected, pulling his menu screen up again. Within a moment the crossbow bolt was back in his hand, his eyes gliding along the rivets in the wood. "Tell me about where you found it."

"Well, I came across a scene similar to the one you described to me. There had been a battle, maybe not even ten minutes before, and the ground was covered in Goylehound corpses. There were a bunch of crossbow bolts sticking out of them. I made sure to take one for myself and burn the others." Aigo recalled, frowning as she got further into her explanation. "Really sloppy work, leaving such a noticeable trail. I hope it isn't a noob who got lucky with such a rare weapon." And then she shrugged in exasperation. "Then again, since when have you ever had to clean up your trail like that?"

"We haven't been able to confirm it's a player yet. Could just be a rare monster with a crossbow as a drop, though I've never heard of one monster acting aggressive towards another monster, let alone kill one." Kirito mused as he patted out the wrinkles on his black, collared trenchcoat. Under the trenchcoat was a simple black shirt with a single gray pauldron strapped over his left areola, and to no surprise, his form-fitting pants were black as well. The hilt of his weapon gleaned in the sunlight; an emerald plated blade with a silver coated handle, and a floral pattern handguard that felt a bit too effeminate, though he owned no better blade than Petalgleam at the moment. "That would explain the trail."

"Is it possible for there to be only one of any specific weapon in a game like this?" Asuna inquired as she looked down at her rapier. It was a beautiful sword no doubt, made by her friend and personal blacksmith Lisbeth. She supposed it was unique in it's own way, as there was no one else with a blade with the Kanji for 'Asuna' carved into the hilt, but it was still just a rapier at the end of the day. She had seen hundreds of other rapier-wielders throughout her time in Aincrad. "Could someone build one?" She asked as the thought struck her.

"Truthfully, I can't answer your second question. I would wager a guess that it's somehow possible, but I think we would need the original weapon in order to copy it." Kirito answered, tapping into his knowledge of video game mechanics. "There has to be a template of some kind. As for your first question, there all all kinds of unique weapons in many video games, so it's not completely unrealistic to imagine there's a special crossbow the developers put in." Asuna nodded at his explanation and tilted her head toward the sky.

"So what's your plan?" Asuna asked after a few moments.

"Well, now that I know it's definitely not just a one-off RNG bug, I'm going to go in search of whoever or whatever it is after this Boss Raid. It's an invaluable asset that the Frontliners could certainly use, whether it's a player or rare drop." He explained, earning a frown from Asuna.

"Off on your own again?" She wished it was not so, but she was only met with a nod. "I don't get why you won't just join the Frontliners. You don't have to join a guild, but traveling alone is dangerous." They had had this conversation a few times now. And each time she was met with the same, now familiar shake of his head. Her frown deepened. "Why not?"

"Save it Asuna, I already tried. He won't listen." Aigo muttered in frustration. "There's no convincing this boy." And though Asuna knew Aigo's words were true, she couldn't help but attempt the futile effort anyway.

"Let's form a guild." She blurted out, causing Agro and Kirito's eyes to widen dramatically.

"Say what now?" Aigo asked, craning her neck oddly.

"We're both two of the strongest players in this game so far. We could-"

"Sorry." Kirito cut her off, earning a glare.

"Don't be so stubborn! You and I-"

"Asuna. Please. The answer is no." He wasn't angry...it almost seemed as if he was begging her with his placid gaze. She grit her teeth as he gave her the same sad shake he always gave her. What was it going to take to make this boy start looking out for himself?

"You're going to get yourself killed." Was her response, tinged with melancholy. "Kirito-"

"It's too early in the game for me to be going and dying." He smiled at her then, and put his hands on his hips. So confident he was, but she couldn't help the fear that slithered its way up her spine. The tension in the room was palpable, even to the point where it was making Aigo uncomfortable.

"This isn't a game anymore..." With that Asuna simply turned around and left. She was no longer interested in the crossbow. Not if it meant Kirito putting himself in danger, again. She steeled herself as her feet found the grounds of the camp again. She had plenty to do that would keep her mind off things.

 **KIRITO**

"Can you see anything?"

"I can see the door, but I can't-wait…"

Kirito looked up expectantly at Asuna as she peered around the corner of the dungeon they were currently raiding, the 11th Floor Dungeon. He and Asuna had been selected to be the scout party, which wasn't unusual, considering they were among the fastest players known.

"Asuna." He whispered, curious about why she had paused. "Asuna!" His whisper doubled in decibel and she held up a finger to silence him. He sighed. She ducked back around after a moment.

"Three more of those humanoid reptile things standing guard. We could probably take them out by ourselves." She wagered, pondering it back and forth in her head.

"Mutated reptile experiments, such a video game cliche." Kirito clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Kinda, boring, don't you agree?"

"That's a silly thing to complain about." Asuna shook her head.

"I mean, if Kayaba is going to go to the trouble of putting my life on the line, I should at least get a good product, right?" Kirito replied, grinning savagely. She rolled her eyes. He knew just how to push her buttons.

"Are we going to take them out or not?"

"Yes, yes." Kirito answered, his hands making and easing motion. "Now, you go back to the group and let them-"

"No. No, no no - I will not-"

"Listen it's just-"

"Kirito I swear-"

"It's only three of them! I can handle it, no sweat. This is just to save some time." He could see even as the words spilled forth from his lips she did not believe him for one second. Her eyes were narrowed and her lips were pursed in defiance. "We all want to get out of here as quick as possible." He continued to defend, though it was useless. He would hate to have to do this but…

"I'm not going back."

"Asuna. Who did Narve put in charge of this little scout mission?" Kirito asked, a hint of apology in his eyes. She gawked at him.

"You-!"

"And who was it who once told me the chain of command was so much more important than a simple passing of orders, because it represented-"

"Leaving yourself to die is not-" She was getting really heated now. Her voice was beginning to strain and she was tense. "Why are you always doing this? It's insufferable the way you-"

"Asuna!" She snapped out of her frustration as he drew his sword and clicked it against her pearly shin guards. "I'll be fine. If you're fast enough, you can be back before the fighting is over. I'll even bet you dinner on it." She eyed him warily, though the implication was not lost on her, and she felt her face heat up.

"Fine."

"Great! I can't wait to eat your cooking again. Though I don't have any rare rabbit this time." He exclaimed through a smile. She shook her head; she knew he was just trying to cheer her up. Without another word she turned around and sprinted off in a flash. He wasn't kidding when he said she could be back before she knew it. Fast was an understatement.

Pushing the thought aside, he drew his precious Petalgleam, and crept around the corner, spotting the three in-his-opinion-cliche creatures mindlessly shuffling around the dark hallway. He had to admit though, the dungeons themselves were quite creative. As all dungeons were crafted, this one was set up in a complex set of labyrinths and dead ends. Crisscrossing long curved underground tunnels lead to large, rocky plateaus where footing could scarcely be gained and fighting was treacherous. The stony surfaces of the walls and ceiling were covered in small bulb-like growths that glowed with a bright, blacklight effect. It was quite funny, considering Asuna's armor was mostly white, and it made her shine like a lighthouse over the open sea. It pretty much made stealth useless for her. He was glad for his black clothes.

Without another thought, he rounded the corner and charged forward. These enemies would be nothing for him. He never told it to anyone, but he was sure he was one of the top leveled players in the game thus far. These monsters in this dungeon...they could do nothing to him. The most he had taken from a single strike thus far had been a paltry 7.5% damage. This would be like fighting butter with a hot knife.

In a flash he appeared next to the first lizard creature. The reptile did not react as his sword cleaved it's body in two, instantly killing the creature, littering the ground with its guts. The two other lizard's squealed demonically as they turned around and hurled their bodies at their attacker with little regard. Kirito quickly shuffled backwards and then shifted his momentum, lunging forward with all his might. A squelch echoed off of the walls as he impaled the lizard through its scaly, ugly snout. The third beast slammed into his side, though the ripple of pain was not enough to completely unbalance him. He spun with the momentum of the sloppy attack and brought his sword around in a swift arc, leaving a large, bleeding gash along the back of the beast. It hissed in pain as it tried to slam Kirito with its spiked tail. Kirito, easily sliced the tail off and it flew by him harmlessly as the creature's health bar fell down to the red area.

"Kirito!" He did not falter when he heard his name called, still intent on the kill in front of him. As he landed on his feet the lizard lashed out in a desperate last resort attack, aiming straight for his neck. He easily sidestepped and with a quick twirl sliced the lizard in two, ending the confrontation. He turned as the sound of footsteps grew closer, and though she was too late, Asuna still had her sword at the ready.

"I'm just fine Asuna. I can't wait for dinner tonight."

"Wait I thought I was getting dinner if I got back in time?"

"No no, that was what I bet on. I hope you have plenty of shoyu." Kirito's eyes crinkled with delight as she gave him a dangerous glare. The young swordsman's gaze shifted over to the man behind Asuna, who had a katana strapped to his waist and was dressed as a sort of samurai, though he had taken some aesthetic liberties, like the single, three-paneled red and gold shoulder pauldron on his sword arm. He was a good ammount older than Kirito, but they had been fast friends regardless, even if they hadn't stuck together long. He had wild red hair and a patch of scraggly fuzz on the cleft of his chin. "Klein, I see Asuna dragged you along.".

"No dragging involved. I can't sit still when Kirito-sensei is in trouble." Klein responded jovially, stepping forward and grinning.

"You gotta stop calling me that."

"Only if Kirito-sensei says so." Kirito rolled his eyes as he looked at Asuna, who was at least smiling now. He heard more footsteps, many more footsteps, coming from behind him, and soon the entirety of the raid party was standing in his view. One of them, an older man, about mid-thirties, dressed in the traditional ALA garb, though where their cloaks were normally forest green his was midnight blue. His short, combed brown hair showed signs of graying, though it still held much of its color. Strapped on his back was a two-handed longsword, crafted from a golden tinged, cream colored metal called White Korrinium. His gaze held the weight of years of experience. Experience in what, Kirito did not know, but it was something that made him experienced enough to lead this small, ragtag army, and lead it well.

"Vice-General Narve." Kirito greeted with a friendly salute.

"I can never tell if this kid is making fun of me or not." Narve stated with a grin as Kirito's head cocked in confusion. "Good work, as usual Kirito. Is this the last door?" Narve asked, motioning towards the massive, looming set of stone door, a sentinel on their path to freedom. Hundreds of rails of light ran through grooves meticulously carved into the ominous door, giving off an ethereal glow.

"That's what the map says boss-man." Kirito answered, whipping his map out and pointing to a red 'X' hastily drawn in one spot.

"Alright, we've already been briefed on the boss and its movements, thanks to the Scouting Guild. Kirito, you've got first Aggro." Narve mentioned, earning a nod from Kirito as he turned to face his horde of men. "Form up as planned, you all know your jobs."

"There isn't a job system in this game!"

"I swear to the Holy Mother the next fool who makes that joke is getting latrine duty." Nervous chuckles erupted from the crowd as Narve squashed the attempt at comedy. "Now listen up! Once we get this door open we're charging straight in! Let's make it four bosses in seven days!" The General was met with shouts of unanimous affirmation and he turned back to Kirito, the confident glint in his eye spurring the younger boy on. "Mr. Gorbachev, open up that door."

"Uh...on it Vice-General." Kirito walked forward and stopped short just before the door. He felt a presence behind him but had no need to turn to see who it was, her 'data signature', if you could put accurate words to the aura of her presence in this world, was familiar to him at this point. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He felt the rush of air shoot out through his nostrils against the stone door, recoiling out across the flat surface. He heard the weight of each and every one of Asuna's breaths, like crashing waves on a distant shore across the universe. He felt the shift of the earth beneath him as the fifty or so players behind him impressed their will upon the virtual earth on which they stood. A step closer to victory.

He tapped the door with his finger.

CREAK

Kirito watched as the doors slowly started to swing away from him, parting in the middle as they grew more and more distant from each other. The darkness called out to him, begging him to enter its depths and see what lie beyond its threshold. But he liked it this way. Out in front, with everyone else behind him. Without another thought he charged in, leaving Asuna a split second behind. They both entered the dark boss chamber, waiting for some kind of signal that the battle would start. The stampeding of feet echoed through the dim hall as the army formed up in what little space they had, each group of soldiers diligently poised for action. Suddenly, the familiar light from the torches that surrounded each and every boss room lit up in the same rhythmic pattern, until they were surrounded by sweet, illuminate fire.

SHWOO SHWOO SHWOO

"Ready!" Narve's voice cut through the tension as the player's readied themselves for their battle. A symphony of flourishing swords resounded through the darkness, each piece of steel like another beacon in the shroud. As always, this would be their toughest fight yet. But they had yet to lose tragically, and there was no reason to give up now. Sweat beaded on all of their necks as they slowly crept forward, steeling themselves with what their will's could muster. And they waited.

And they waited.

"Where the hell is this thing!?" One of the fighters in the front, Nalck, Kirito believed, shouted in exasperation.

"Keep your guard up!" Narve ordered as his eyes viciously scanned the room. Suddenly the air shifted in front of him. "What the-?" He was perplexed as he heard the rush of claws against the stone floor and suddenly a piercing cry sliced through the air. Kirito jumped back as he saw one of the fighters soar up into air and fly across the room as if he shot out of a massive slingshot.

"What the fuck!"

"Did anyone see anything?" No, Kirito hadn't at all, which only worried him more. His grip tightened on his weapons. He scanned his surroundings and backed up another step, feeling himself back into Asuna. That was fine, they would be safer back to back. That's when he heard it. The slow, rhythmic, beastly breathing. Not inches from his face. But he saw nothing. His reflexes told him it didn't matter as he lashed out with his blade, feeling it squelch into the something. He was assaulted by a gust of rotten breath as - whatever it was - hissed in agony and swung itself around, smacking Kirito and Asuna away. They tumbled across the hard stone and crashed into each other, eliciting a groan of pain from Asuna. Kirito quickly extracted himself from their tangled mess and lifted himself up before lifting her up too. He held out his arm in front of her defensively.

"I think it's invisible. Narve! What was-"

" _KyaAAHHH!"_

Kirito barely reacted as another fighter's body rocketed across the room, this time straight at Asuna and himself. He was barely able to push Asuna out of the way and avoid the human projectile safely.

"Kirito!" The young swordsman heard his name over the commotion and turned to face his commander.

"It must have a cloaking ability! Spread out!" Kirito shouted hastily. He felt Asuna at his back once more.

"Cloaking!? That wasn't in the report?!" A skittish soldier cried out.

"Keep it together soldier!" Was Narve's only irritated response.

"Asuna. Do you still have that Oil Canister from the last mission we did together?" Kirito asked under his breath. He felt her nod against him. "Good. Take it out, and get ready to throw it at the monster when I tell you."

"But I can't see it." She sounded very unsure of his plan.

"I trust you. You'll be fine." Her eyes bulged. "Here it comes!" He whipped his sword out and slashed at nothing, though he felt something slimy and stretchy wrap around his and Asuna's bodies, lassoing them together. "Asuna, hold on tight!" He felt her arms interlock with his as he waved his around in front of him, searching for the source of his bindings.

"Kirito! Talk to me!" Narve shouted. However Kirito did not talk to him as he felt his hand brush against something he wish he had never touched.

"Got it!" And then suddenly he was lifted off the ground. He barely had time to grasp onto the tongue of the offending creature as his stomach lurched through his body and what felt like out through his brain. He felt Asuna's grip on him tighten tenfold as his on the tongue of the lizard did the same. He felt the tongue uncoil from around him as the foe prepared to launch him across the room, but he used all of his strength to clutch onto the beast's tasting appendage. He saw a marker for inflicted damage on the boss, and a health bar appeared in his HUD. The Chamelera was the name that appeared under the three green bars.

Kirito cared little however as he struggled to stay connected to the flailing tongue. Finally he felt himself connect with the ground again. His shoulder slammed into the stone, and he heard Asuna cry out behind him but he did not let go. Instead he gave one mighty yank and felt the beast lurch toward him.

"Asuna! Now!" He gave one more ferocious tug from his position on the ground as Asuna leapt up and dashed towards where Kirito was yanking. She tossed the cannister on the air and quickly sliced through it with her rapier, sending a shower of slick, black oil onto the body of the invisible creature. Kirito let go of the tongue and rolled away as Asuna jumped back next to them.

"Good work! Now we strike!" Narve bellowed, raising his sword and dashing towards the splotchy apparition. He brought his blade down with all the force his arms could muster and watched as it sliced cleanly through the marked flesh in front of him. Crimson began to ooze out and mix with the oil and he leapt away to avoid a counterattack.

As the game of cat and mouse came to an end, and the rest of the Raid Group began to assault the now slightly visible boss, Kirito took a moment to check on Asuna. Full health. No status. Good. Always had to make sure.

"You okay Kirito?" She asked, breaking his concentration. He smiled.

"Just fine. Let's wait for an opening." And before Asuna could respond, said opening presented itself to Kirito, and he took it without hesitation. He streaked past a group of heavily breathing players and sprung into the air over the boss creature. He lowered his sword and firmly held it pointed under him, and landed perfectly on what he assumed was the creature's back. The creature let out a large hiss as he saw a streak of light crash into the beast, followed by the flurry of smaller streaks of light, no doubt Asuna's signature technique.

He was about to let himself think this was going well when he suddenly felt something _bite_ him. Hard.

"Fuck!" He withdrew his sword with a squeech and jumped back to safety while the group continued to assault their enemy. He looked up at his Health Bar. Poison.

"What the hell...how…" Suddenly the world grew fuzzy and seemed to fall around him. He felt himself hit the floor, his cheek opening up with blood. "Sh-shi….." He gritted out through chattering teeth. He slowly pushed himself up and tried to open his menu, but collapsed again under his own weight, hitting his bleeding cheek a second time.

"Kirito!" He felt Asuna's presence next to him and looked up to see her worried eyes. He felt her shaking hands grip his shoulders. "Kirito!" The cacophony of battle cries and violent hisses continued around them.

"Ant...Antidote…" She blinked and then in a flash opened up her menu screen and produced the poison cure, an empyreal greenish-yellowish prism. She held it over him and watched it slowly crumble into microscopic motes of light that cascaded down onto Kirito's body. A soothing breath of warmth surged through his body as he felt his motor function return to him, though not fully. He looked up at his HUD as saw that while the Poison icon was grayed out, it was still present next to his Health Bar. "What the…?"

"Are you okay?" He looked up as Asuna's voice reached his ears. He smiled and stood up.

"I think so. Thank you Asuna."

"You're still getting checked out after the battle. Stay back for now." She ordered, leaving no room for disagreement. He sighed as she charged back into the fray, landing a devastating blow on the floating patch of murky oil. In the corner of his HUD he saw the color of the Boss's Health Bar change from yellow to red.

"Red Bar!" The command was thundered over the sound of the carnage, and with it everyone jumped back. To their surprise, the invisibility cloak faded away, and they were left with the sight of the boss. Like the enemies Kirito had taken on before, it was a lizard, though this one more more chameleon-like, which made sense now. It had a couple of spiny, dorsal fins that seemed sharp enough to impale standard armor around it's face, and one on its back. It's scaly skin was a sickly brown, with patches of flesh that had rotted green and were bleeding and oozing fluids.

"Alright, that's kinda cool." Kirito stated, noting the aesthetic detail that went into the boss. He didn't care if Asuna thought it was dumb, he would always take notice of this kind of stuff. He prepared himself to dodge a vicious attack from the boss, but as the body of the creature started to pulse and quiver, he knew they were in for worse.

"Get back! It's transforming!" He wasn't sure if anyone would heed his cry, but his fears were realized as with a deafening roar, another head sprouted from the shoulder of the lizard, this one the head of a bull. "Alright, you did well Kayaba." As the lizard roared, Kirito caught sight of the tongue, which was actually a slimy, scaly snake. So that was how he got poisoned.

"Defensive positions!" Narve ordered, his voice as loud as ten men. "Shields up and swords ready!" And they obeyed his voice without question. Kirito watched as the nerd-turned-warriors charged forward and formed a tight defensive platoon. He felt a wave of...pride swell up in his belly. Another roar echoed out, this time from the bull head, as it reared it's massive horns and charged forward. It's horns met the line of shields in a shower of radiant sparks, but the line held firm and thrust backwards with all their might, staggering the creature for a moment. "Now!"

Streaks of light slashed across the beast as one by one each player unleashed a sword skill upon the boss creature. With each attack a sliver of life was shredded away from the abomination's vitality, and Kirito decided he would wait no longer. He charged in and dove over the front shield line, intent on ending the encounter now. He leapt up into the air and threw his weight to the side, causing him to spin in midair. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the snake-tongue unleash itself with extreme velocity toward him. He flashed his sword out and let his momentum fly as his blade spun with him, decapitating the snake head with his rotation. The beast screamed in agony as Kirito landed within its guard and thrust his blade into the throat of the lizard head. As the beast clutched at its throat with its claws Kirito barreled into it with his shoulder at full strength and sent it toppling onto its back. With one final shout of determination he climbed on top and shoved his sword through the bull head's eye with all the force he could muster, driving his blade in all the way to the hilt. Crimson squirted out of the fleshy sphere and splashed in his face, though he paid it no mind. He felt the mutant struggle under him as it gasped out its death rattle and ceased to live any longer. Silence reigned as the slowly tugged his sword out and wiped the blood off of his face.

"We did it!" At the sound of the first exclamation, Kirito heard the cheers around him, and that was enough for him to let go. His grip on the beast slackened as he felt his vision slip away into darkness. He vaguely heard a thud as the feeling of relief overtook his body.

 **SINON**

Breath in. Steady. Breath out. Fire.

She felt this was the best way for her to get the steadiest shot. She was calmest upon her exhale. It seemed obvious as she put it into words in her head, but she had never shot a weapon before...well before this.

And just as her observation was true her aim was true, and her bolt caught the rabbit square between the eyes. She frowned. Such an adorable creature.

She approached the body and knelt next to it, clasping her hands together and bowing her head. She then began the ritual of skinning and looting the creature, taking every part of the animal she could use. The pelt she would add to her collection, the teeth could be sharpened into weak bolt-tips, and of course, the meat would satiate her hunger.

And she had to admit, as she examined the (Excellent) Rabbit meat and the (Excellent) Rabbit Fur, that she was getting quite good at this. Even if she were forced to live on in this game by herself forever, she would not simply wither and fade away. She would survive. The weapon in her hand told her so.

As she stashed away her loot her eyes drifted to her unique crossbow, as she so often found them doing. The weapon was, to her, bonafide proof that she was meant to survive this game. Why else would she, of all people, be given such a prized possession?

 _Her hands trembled as she caught sight of her pursuers. They had been chasing her since she left the last village, god only knew why. She was smart enough to quickly try and cover her trail, but that had only made them pursue harder. Flight had not led her to freedom, so now it was time to fight. She had no desire to kill these men, if they even were men, but she could disable them and escape. She silently took cover in thicket and loaded up a bolt into her divinely unique weapon, it's name inscribed across its wooden frame. Kali. She brought the weapon to her cheek and aimed her vision down the sight. She saw a leg, she didn't care to notice the type of pants or what color they were. She slowly cranked back on the mechanism._

 _Breath in. Steady. Breathe out. Fire._

 _CRACK_

" _Ah, my leg!" A faint smile broke through her facade, but she quickly squashed it and retrieved another bolt as the pursuers came to a stop._

" _Ginko!" One of the pursuers called, running up to his injured friend._

" _My fucking leg! Ah shit!"_

" _Guys! Where's the-"_

 _CRACK_

" _KYAAAAAA!" Another one of them dropped to the ground, this one clutching his wrist in pain. He wouldn't be using his sword for awhile._

 _Seeing that two out of five of them were now incapacitated, she decided now was the best time to make a run for it. They would be too busy striking at shadows to pick up her trail again._

" _We've got to get that crossbow!"_

Those words echoed in her mind as she stood up, not sparing another glance to the ravaged rabbit corpse. She couldn't stay in one place too long. It was too dangerous. With a satisfied grunt she hefted her crossbow onto her back and hopped deeper into the jungle.

 **THINKER**

"Go ahead with your report Vice-General."

"Of course sir. The Chamelera has been defeated. The Last Attack Bonus was claimed by Kirito, the solo-player, though we farmed more than enough-"

The Aincrad Liberation Army, the largest player formed group thus far in the world of Aincrad. Composed of over 800 members as of the current date, it was what many considered their greatest hope of escaping this wretched world. It was...a lot of pressure, to say in the least, to run such an operation for someone who was so unused to such conditions.

But as the founder of one of the world's premiere video game news outlets, Thinker believed he had a slight responsibility that rested upon his shoulders - that is, the safe guiding of the lesser educated players in the game. After all, no one had conducted more interviews with Kayaba before the game came out, few and far between as they may have been. Though he supposed, it made sense now, that is, Kayaba's extremely reclusive and hermetic attitude.

Of course, even his vast well of knowledge learned pre-launch had not come close to preparing him for this.

"...Scouting Guild's info was inaccurate. Something to follow up on." Vice-General Narve finished professionally, his posture stiff and straight like a military man. Of course, he _was_ a military man, which was exactly why Thinker had made him his Field and Vice-General. The man was beyond capable, and a huge boon to his cause. Both men were above average height, though where Thinker was lean and wiry Narve was athletic and stalwart. They both wore the standard outfits of the ALA; black undergarments layered with tightly woven chainmail and a gray, heavy armor breastplate. A long cloak, black for Thinker dark blue for Narve, rounded out the uniform, though had they been in the field, they would have worn gray-steel helmets fashioned somewhat like a medieval version of the NerveGear helmet, the helmet that brought every unfortunate soul into this prison. Instead, Thinker's short, neat black hair rested finely upon his head.

"Inaccurate? How so?" That was a worrisome detail indeed. If the Scouting Guild could not be relied on to give them genuine information...

"Yes. The boss ended up having some sort of camouflage skill for the first phase of the battle, something we were unaware of. We lost three men because of it." Narve stated, his mouth etched in a grim line. "I never like losing a man General, but if the reason is bad intel, then it leaves an especially bad taste in my mouth…" The Vice-General replied seriously.

"Agreed…" Thinker spoke wistfully, his eyes drawn to the candlelight. "I'll send a team to look into it. Kibaou!" At Thinker's summon, the tent flap to his tent was pushed aside immediately. Tendrils of sunlight streamed in as one of the guards, dressed in full uniform, strutted in and saluted both Generals.

"Sir!" Thinker had to admit, even though the man was a bit of a wildcard, he certainly took his duty seriously. Maybe a bit too seriously.

"Kibaou, gather your unit and ready yourselves for dispatch. You'll be briefed in ten."

"Sir!" His unwavering reply came with another salute, and he turned on his heel and marched out. Thinker redirected his attention back to Narve.

"Anything else to report?" Thinker asked, earning a simple negatory shake of the head. "Very well, make the rounds with me?" Thinker suggested, this time earning an affirmative nod. As always, Narve was willing to connect with their citizenry in any way.

"Of course sir. Lead the way." Narve motioned with his hand to the entrance, letting Thinker take the point and following him by half a step. Upon egress of the Command Tent, their eyes were flooded with sunlight, though it was certainly a welcome sensation, false though it may have been.

The Town of Origin was supposedly the largest in the game, though Thinker could not really say. It was certainly large, roughly the same east-west length of the Shibuya district in Tokyo. Designed with a medieval aesthetic with the classic fantasy template blended over it, it was the standard, not-to-be-eschewed Fantasy genre level one, which was just alright with Thinker. He would rather the understood than the unknown any day.

Cobblestone paths of white and gray were meticulously laid in purposely uneven positions and extended in every direction. The weary feet of players and NPC's, that is, Non-Player Characters, rambled along the weaving and winding paths, along which many merchants and hawkers of all shapes and forms called out to the general populace in hopes of funding their meager means of survival. Men, women and children of all ages made up the population, a fact that tugged on Thinker's heartstrings with no abandon. It was bad enough that anyone had been subjected to such a fate, but the children especially…

"I must sound like a broken record Narve, but I must thank you again for all the work you do. Without you and Yulier, I would have no chance at keeping this army together." As he admitted his gratitude to Narve, his eyes locked onto the form of a young boy, no older than 9 or 10. His face was marred with dirt and grime, and his clothes looked a tad ragged, but there was a giant smile etched on his face, as if he had no care in the world no matter his dreadful situation. His world consisted of only the sweet treat in his hand given to him by a dazzling young beauty who was most likely his caretaker.

"This is my duty General. I'm only lucky that I have my training to fall back on. Those who are strong and able must defend and guide the weary." Narve replied stoically, wisely.

"I'm the lucky one. If it weren't for your raw tenacity and iron grit we would have never conquered the first 10 floors this fast." Thinker's words could not have been truer. Narve was not the strongest player (though he was certainly no slouch), and he was not the most educated player game-knowledge wise, but he was one of the few who had seen true battle in life. He was seasoned, and it was his will that had driven the clearing group well beyond the limits they had set for themselves, the limits this world tricked them into forcing upon themselves It was him who was responsible for running combat training for those who were unskilled but wanted to learn. It was him who taught Thinker the basics of maintaining a militant force beyond the scope of his measuring. And it was him who led the troops out on the front line, risking his life and well-being for the chance to reach the top floor of Aincrad and tear it apart, brick by brick by brick.

"All of us have a role to play. This is my role. Once a soldier always a soldier, there's no escaping it." Narve responded with a resigned grin. "The rush of battle will always flow through my veins, I belong out there. If I can save even one kid from the miserable fate that awaits them in this world, then I have no regrets." A noble sentiment indeed, one that Thinker intended to echo through his actions. He may not be the one on the front lines, but he would damn well make sure he did everything he could to assist those who were under the ALA's protection.

His eyes drifted to another group of children, slightly older than the one from before. If he had to guess, he would say they were on par, age-wise, with the youngest range of children still capable of fighting - the thirteen to fifteen range - in the world. Though from the way they were dressed, in simple plain clothes with no weapons, they were certainly no warriors of their own.

He could see the creases of worry eternally etched into their young, naive faces, hardly veiled by the forced facade of playfulness and ignorance. He wasn't sure if it was his eyes playing tricks on him, but they seemed gaunt and malnourished, as if the virtual realm was draining the life out of them, byte by byte. The horrifying image of a sea of child corpses flashed across his mind, the dread leaving a life-sized impression on his conscious.

And as he looked all around the dread only amplified, as his eyes took in the truly depressive state around him. While the town itself was aesthetically beautiful, it's inhabitants were not so lucky to be viewed with such a perspective. Col, the currency of Aincrad, was scarce to come by on the bottom floor. A month had passed since the bulk of the confident players had departed The Town of Origin, and with them the resources needed to move up in this odyssey of an adventure. And while, this was the natural order of a game, it put those who were resilient about not stepping foot outside the first town in a bad position. Many of the lower-level denizens had resorted to begging, their gaunt, fearful eyes almost as sharp as any sword. Fear could cut just as deep as a blade, a lesson most learned all too well. Thinker had even heard some rather...unsavory rumors about a certain sort of establishment that catered to desire and pleasure in one of the seedier districts.

He was not one to judge, but to think it had come so far so quickly...

"Do you think this is what Kayaba had in mind?" Thinker asked thoughtfully, putting some proof to his moniker. "Did he want to see if we were capable of adapting to these roles of this Role Playing Game? He said he wanted to build a world he could watch over. It's no longer a game for us...but to him, it's the game of a legacy. His legacy." He was just following his free stream of thought, but it just raised more questions than answers, a result Thinker was quite familiar with. The more he thought, the more answers he would seek, though none of them may ever be truly answered.

"I have no doubt. A man who fancies himself a God, not as uncommon as you think. Though in this world, I suppose he actually is, so he's got that one on the rest." Narve gruffly spat, his jaw clenched tightly. "Did I ever tell you why I'm here kid?" Thinker blinked at the question. In a regular game, it was common etiquette to assume a character, and thus, your real world personality for all intents and purposes did not exist. However, in SAO, people were especially, how you say...tip-toe-ey around the subject, if you catch the drift. While everyone most certainly secretly shared the desire to lament in unison about their lost lives, no one wanted to broach the subject out strict fear. Fear of fear itself. So afraid that the overwhelming fear would bind them in chains of absolute treachery. But if Narve was willing to share, it would be just as disrespectful to not lend his ear.

"...No, you haven't." Was his simple reply. Narve sighed deeply as they continued their steady pace around the town.

"As I told you, I was an ex-Green Beret for the United States Army. And that's the truth, but not the full truth. You see, I may not work in the field anymore, but I still work for the Army. My current assignment was to assess the potential use of the Full Dive technology in weapons development, mental conditioning - basically for any military purpose." Thinker's eyes widened. Thinker too was an American, so while this didn't necessarily come as a shock, it still took an extra moment to process. Narve continued on, his voice dropping in pitch just a tad. "At first, I was overwhelmingly enthralled with the potential; I really thought we could make strides in many directions with this. Oh I don't know what the hell I was thinking, maybe I was just excited to get shipped off to Tokyo to play a state of the art wonder of technology, and get paid handsomely for it." He chuckled then shaking his head. "But now...now that I've seen what this kind of realm is capable of...I know that I must make it back to the real world. I have to make it back, so I can make sure no one will ever abuse this horrid piece of equipment ever again."

"Wow...are you...are you sure you should be telling me this?" Thinker asked nervously. "Not that I don't appreciate the trust…" He added apologetically, to which Narve waved off lightly.

"We may never make it out of here kid...better that more people are in the know so more people can carry on the message." Narve answered truthfully, without a hint of fear in his voice. Though Thinker didn't doubt he was afraid. "In a twisted way, it's kind of ironic. I was sent here to assess the unit's capability as a passive weapon of some sort, and yet Kayaba turned it into something far more dangerous than the U.S. Government could have ever conceived."

"It is his world after all. Maybe the Army should have just gone straight to him?" Thinker suggested, in a completely trivial manner as the idea seemed silly. Why would the government contact a videogame developer, of all the technological geniuses out there? But then Narve broke out into a slow chuckle, that gently evolved into a hearty laughter and then peaked with a bellowing crescendo. Thinker gave him a confused look, to which Narve only grinned.

"They did."

 **KLEIN**

"No they didn't!"

"I just said they did."

"Those sand-blasted grease monkeys!" Klein's conjecture was a bit over the top, though everyone around him understood his frustration. Of course, if anyone were looking closer, they would have spotted copyright infringement, though Klein's argument for that was always simple. 'Art is imitation' he would respond dutifully, as if he were in on some sort of secret only those lucky enough over the centuries had access to. "Hehe, I've always wanted to say that." He added on with a satisfied chortle.

"Is it really that big of a deal?" The other voice, belonging to Kirito, responded nonchalantly.

"Hell yeah it is! What good is a samurai without the ultimate katana?!" Klein boisterously responded, rousing the suspicion of some of the nearby townsfolk.

The city, or town, it seemed like it was really right in between the two distinctions, was situated all the way on the north corner of the 15th Floor, opposite to the Floor Dungeon all the way in the southeast. Dubbed Avolen, it reminded Klein of a town he had seen in a movie set in Central America. The structures were made of coarse, brownish-yellow mortar upon dusty dirt streets. Most of the windows and doorways were high archways with plenty of space for multiple people to pass between. Wooden beams hung across the thin roadways meant for foot traffic, decorated with lusciously verdant vines with bulbous, violet buds lazily dangling in the air. Dark skinned NPC women with skirts made of leaves and flowers sashayed through the streets, woven wicker baskets perched upon the crowns of their heads. As one passed by, Klein couldn't help but let his gaze travel to one of the girl's backsides, lingering as it swayed back and forth...back and forth...back and...forth...and…

"Hey. Woah boy. Down boy. Heel boy." The incessant snapping in his face eventually brought Klein back from bootyland, and he leered lecherously.

"I love this town."

"Don't forget why we're here. We're to acquire a most 'honorable' sword for our most 'honorable' samurai." The emphasis Kirito put on the word honorable did not go unnoticed, and Klein simply shook his head.

"Boy oh boy Kirito. Don't you worry, I'll make a man out of you yet." Kirito now frowned, giving him a passive glare. "But you're right! The ever-whirling wheel of justice waits for only the bold!" Dramatic, if not a bit silly, but Klein loved to bring that to the table.

"You know that Role Play EXP was just a rumor right?"

Dammit.

"Justice comes with it's own reward my young neophyte. You will learn this wise lesson one day."

"Seriously, it's not gonna give it to you. Give it up."

Double dammit.

"I was really excited for that feature...anyhow, let's get a step on it. We have to beat the DDA to the prize!" He pumped his fist in the air, and the action was reiterated by his four Guild Members along with cries of affirmation.

"You do realize that the DDA is twice your size right?" Always the pragmatic one - wait what was he saying, Kirito was anything but pragmatic. He was just a debbie downer.

"Screw those guys! Furinkazan won't submit so easily!" His bravado was commendable, and Klein knew he had the strength to back his claims, but really he just wanted to the damn katana. It was essential to his Samurai aesthetic! He thought he nailed it pretty well so far: a pair of white hakama pants tucked into a pair of open-toed boots fastened with rope ties. More roped secured a light, metallic breastplate over a red traditional samurai half-robe. Two black gauntlets were tightly fitted to his arms, shielding halfway up his forearm. His current sword, a featherweight sword with a wickedly curved blade called the Shamshir was tied to his belt with a thick rope belt, and around his head was his signature headband, a memento he carried over from real life. Somehow, it had served to be a part of his identity more than he could have imagined it to. It was bright red, which was also the color of his hair in this world. And lastly upon the headband laid the crest of his guild, Furinkazan, a diamond pattern of the the separate Kanji characters for "Fu", "Rin", "Ka", and "Zan".

"Well, suit yourself. I wish you the best of the luck." With that, Klein's first new friend in this world turned his back and began to walk off. Just like that first day...when the earth had shattered beneath them and swallowed them whole.

"Kirito…" He saw the boy freeze. It was almost exactly like last time. He almost laughed at the absurdity. "You should come with us. We could really use your strength." Klein's voice was sincere now, having discarded his prior jovial, lighthearted tone. He knew the action was futile as his friend turned face him slowly. But he had to try anyway, futility be damned.

"Klein...I don't…" Kirito started to answer, his voice fading, losing his words quickly. He seemed utterly conflicted, caught between desire and agony.

Klein held no ill will towards Kirito whatsoever, though he was sure the boy thought otherwise. Kirito may not have realized it, but if he hadn't taken the older newbie under his wing that day, he was sure would have lost his life out in the wild on that first fight with the pathetically weak boar. A sad end to the sad story that was his sad life. No one would have remembered him anyway.

But Kirito had truly and utterly saved him, and no matter what the younger boy thought, Klein held nothing but the utmost respect for him, labels of 'beater' and 'sociopath' treated for the garbage that they were. Kirito was a good guy underneath it all. He was just terrified of being that guy and letting anyone down. At least, that was how Klein saw it. Two years of Psyche classes came in handy after all eh?

"Damn...if I make it out of here, I'm gonna go back to school."

"What?" Kirito was suddenly confused. "Where did-"

"Sorry, you know me. One thought after another with no disregard for anything going on in between." He was back to his old self, his grin saying all it needed. "You do you Kirito. Just know, you are always, I mean it, welcome in my party." This seemed to have the desired effect, and Kirito smiled.

"Yeah...I know...thanks Klein." With that, they parted on acceptable terms, and Klein turned to flash his guild mates a grin.

"Alright Furinkazan! On our honor!"

"On our honor!"

…

"Dammit. Alright let's just go get the damn sword."

XxX

"Ilnus! Ylold! Fall back and cover me!"

"You're joking right Klein!"

"He's got to be, or else he's blind because I'M FIGHTING OFF THREE DIFFERENT FUCKING ENEMIES RIGHT NOW!" Lloyd bellowed as he whipped his one handed bastard sword around in a wide arc, causing the mentioned three enemies to take a drastic step back, stabbing his tower shield into the ground behind him. "Now really isn't the time for your famous sense of humor 'Boss'!"

"That's coming out of your pay!"

"Oh I'll pay you back all right! I'll pay you back with some lube for your eyes cuz I'm about to skullf- OH SHIT!" The DDA must have taken them for fools, but really, that was what they were hoping for. They knew skill alone would not be enough to take on a force larger than their own. They would need a bit of guile as well. It was simple really, it was a tactic they employed without really having to try.

" _Just be jackasses to each other. They'll think we're stupid and underestimate us. If we can get them right where we want them, we can end this confrontation before we even have to go on the offensive." Klein explained, his guild members nodding in agreement._

" _So basically, just act normal."_

Klein smirked as he suddenly snapped into focus, deftly parrying his attackers blade as if it were a toy. Using his trusty Disarm skill, a tool of only the most noble of fighters, he was easily able to knock the sword from his enemies hand and leave him defenseless. It was quite handy really, since most people didn't expect a technique they dubbed 'useless' seeing as it didn't have the ability to land a lethal strike. Within moments he had the DDA member down on the ground, bound with a special twine he had purchased from a very special vendor. It's only purpose was to subdue an enemy. Interesting that Kayaba thought ahead that much to put in such an item.

One enemy immobilized.

He looked up from his captured foe and surveyed the battle. His team had made progress as well.

Four enemies immobilized. That left seven more.

The DDA, or Divine Dragon Alliance, was a guild based solely on the ideal that rare items would make you powerful enough to win the game. That wasn't to say they slouched on leveling...but they certainly were not the highest leveled group in the game. However, their morals were slightly...in the gray area, for lack of a better term.

They would not stoop to killing. Only a few cases of that had been reported so far…but they would go as far as to initiate combat with you in order to get what they wanted. It was despicable to Klein really, that people would be so pompous as to put themselves on such a high pedestal. As if they deserved anything more than anyone else.

Of course, he really, really wanted that sword too.

"Push back!" His command spurred him back into action, jumping in to intercept a blow aimed at Ilnus' blind spot. He deflected the dashing attack easily and countered with a swift diagonal slash, one of the fastest attacks in his inventory, but it was deftly swiped aside and countered just as gracefully. It seemed that they had only gotten the small-fries out of the way.

And though the odds were a little more even, seven against five was still not ideal. Slowly they started to lose their edge. Whereas Klein's plan had been to slowly collapse together, they now found themselves separated, seven between two and three.

"Boss!" One of them shouted, losing the confidence of their bravado from before. Things were going less than smoothly.

"Keito! Datto! We'll hold them off! You two acquire the loot!" The most ornamentally equipped member of the DDA, most likely the leader of the party, ordered. The two called upon DDA members sheathed their swords and took off in a dash. They got no more than ten feet before they were both crushed into the ground, courtesy of a Double Lariat from Kirito. Klein's downtrodden visage morphed into one of relief as he saw his friend appear.

"Guess you really did need my help."

And it was back to sullen.

"Oy! Less taunting more fighting ya!?" Klein jibbed back, though he felt his energy slightly ebb back to him.

"You! You have no right to this fight Beater! Get lost before you make an enemy of the DDA!" The leader commanded as the fight came to a brief repose, which Klein was more than grateful for.

"On the contrary. That's my friend you're attacking." Kirito answered smoothly. Klein made a noise under his breath. All of a sudden the damn fool was so cool. Was there some sort of lightswitch installed in his brain, and if so, who did Klein have to call to get one installed?

"Sir…" One of the DDA members spoke up hesitantly. "That's the Midnight Swordsman, another one of the clearers…" The leader grunted in disbelief and turned on his man.

"You've lost your spine have you?" His tone wasn't rageful, but it was full of disappointment. Klein hoped he would just give up and retreat.

"Tell you what, I'll give you this sword right now if you leave." The DDA leader paused and turned to Kirito, who was now holding a new sword. If looks were anything to go by, it was quite powerful. It was a two-handed sword, which right away clued Klein into why he was so willing to part with it. Kirito wouldn't touch a two handed sword. The blade was a deep gold tinged with tones of copper and mahogany, but around the edge was a tiny sliver of diamond coated material. The handle was thick and sturdy, giving more than enough leverage to swing the mighty sword. "It's called the Dwarven Great Knife. Check out the stats." Kirito waved the man over, apparently completely trusting of him now, though Klein new he would be on his guard the whole time. The DDA leader approached, equally as guarded, and slowly looked at the screen Kirito made available for him to see. Normally, he would not be able to see another player's screen.

"I see...pray tell, how did you acquire this weapon?" The DDA leader asked, earning a praising grin from Kirito.

"Smart man. Tell you what, 4000 Col and it's yours. You saw how strong the weapon is, and the quest I'm on is a multi-part, multi-floor spanning quest, where apparently multiple of these 'Dwarven' items can be found. They're not unique, so everyone can get one. This one in particular sells, for 7500 Col on the market, so you can see that this is a good deal." Klein was impressed with Kirito's fast talking. But he had to admit, if he were in the DDA guy's position he'd take the deal.

"Hmm...very well." And so with a few seconds of menu navigation, both parties came to an agreement. The sword, as insurance, and info would go to the DDA, in exchange for the money to Kirito. After all was said and done, everyone was satisfied. Klein and his group untied the members of the DDA they had bound together, and everyone returned to their respective sides. "This has turned out in the most agreeable manner. The DDA shall not forget this." He bowed respectfully and one by one the DDA members filed out of the jungle clearing. Klein let out a sigh of relief.

"Did anyone tell those guys the Role Play EXP system isn't real?"

"Will you knock it off with that?" They both looked at each other for a moment before laughing. "So, " Klein went on, "did we just make an ally?"

"Something like that, I think. Probably more like 'not enemy'." Kirito suggested, giving it a thoughtful prod. "Either way, let's go get that katana of yours."

XxX

"Gah! All of that for nothing. I can't believe it only appears at night time!"

"Well, it's called Blurry Moon, sometimes you have to take things at face value Klein."

"Is that even taking it at face value!?"

"Hmm...I don't know?"

"Away with you Kirito! Away with you!"

 **AIGO**

 _Silent as a cat. Deadly as a tiger. Swift as a cheetah._

Over and over again the mantra repeated in her head, fueling her instincts as she let them guide her like a marionette. Her limbs flowed gracefully, fluid like water, as she slipped and glided through every attack thrown at her. These were weak enemies really, if one were to go based on level and statistics, but she would not let her guard down for an instant. She knew not to underestimate one's enemy, after all, she had been underestimated all her life.

Cute little Aigo. Cute as button, cuddly as a cat.

"Hup - RAH!" All of her strength was thrown into that last blow, punching a writhing hole straight through the amorphous gel's gooey physique, eliciting a pained shudder before the blob melted into a peaceful pile of waste.

Cute little Aigo, slaying enemies single handedly like the heroes of poetry and prose.

She had to be strong. As a single player, she knew she was at risk, but her specific role demanded it of her. Information was just as precious as any skill point or rare drop, and only someone with the guile and wit to survive at all costs could safely broker the invaluable resource. It was part of the reason she felt a connection with Kirito, and Roamer too. Both of them held the same self-deprecating competitive quality that forced them to stride forward in this world, to obtain everything necessary to shatter its bindings, even at the cost of everything they held consciously and unconsciously sacred.

And as her fist passed through the last member of the mob, she didn't even bother to look at the contents of the loot window that popped up. If Roamer's crackpot theories were correct, then she had a lot of work to do. But first she had to figure out a way to prove and/or disprove the theory. And that...that was wherein the problem lie.

"Now if I were a 15th Floor secret...where would Kayaba hide me?" It was a tough question, for many reasons. First of all, she didn't know exactly what she was looking for. She figured it would stand out to her if she saw 'it', but either her eyes were slacking or Kayaba was every bit the genius he was touted to be. She was leaning towards the second one. The tougher part was attempting to get into the head of the mastermind who had fostered the immaculate conception of her living nightmare.

But information was her specialty. It was her bread and it was her butter. She knew if she thought about it she could put the pieces together. Or at least, grasp the first piece from out of thin air.

"Thin air... " She muttered to herself, taking in the scenery around her. She suddenly sucked in a deep breath, puffing her cheeks and lungs out to maximum capacity. And she held it. And she held it. And held it. And-

"PWAH-HEH-HEH." She panted out after a moment, releasing the breath stressfully. It was much more realistic than it had been in the beta. Her vision had actually started to fade on her, and her lungs were on fire, burning for desire of the breath of life. It didn't mean much, but it was a start. Things were different, beyond what anyone expected.

As she slowly regained her stamina, her gaze wandered out across the landscape. This floor had a sort of Amazonian touch to it. Enormous, sunlight starved trees stretched high into the sky, battling for the highest spot in which they could drink in the sun's rays easiest. The giant, whimsical leaves created a shaded canopy on the dank, humid forest floor. Numerous types of bizarre and colorfully created fauna sprouted in hypnotizing shapes that almost breathed as if full of real, genuine life. It was quite gorgeous, and she couldn't take her eye off of one specific plant.

It had no 'stalk' or 'leaves' per se, it was something she had never seen the likes of before. Numerous, swelling and pulsing stems of writhing organic mass swirled up together in a twisting fashion, wrapping endlessly around each other. Small bulbs of what looked like floating orbs of liquid protruded in droplet form from random spots all over the twisting main appendage, glistening like a thousand moons mirroring the light of a million stars. At the top grew an amorphous, unsymmetrical set of appendages in the rough shape of flower petals, though they were more like inverted mushroom caps, with rhythmically beating polkadots dotted gratuitously along the surface.

It was so real. Unreal but too real. Too magnificent for human eyes.

And it struck it. It was _too real._

She slowly approached the mysterious plant, an unsure quality to her gait. It was as if she believed it would rear up and bite her head off, though in this world...

Her face lit up with wonder and she crouched down in front of it, coming within inches of one of the glowing bulbs. The incandescent, white light rolled across her skin, reflecting in her scintillating chocolate eyes. Her finger reached out slowly, hesitantly, inching ever closer to the orb of fascination, gentle as a lamb. She lightly poked it, feeling it ever so slightly _squish_ against the tip of her finger. It was cold, and wet.

And then she felt the plant _respond_.

It wasn't anything extravagant. But it was a response nonetheless. The plant shuddered ever so slightly and twitched away from the touch, barely imperceptible to the untrained eye. But she caught it.

Nothing had ever responded like _that_ in the beta. Not with such...such a palpably natural feel.

She reached out again, more confidently this time, and effortlessly, as if her hand had been born only for that purpose, plucked the ever so beautiful bulb off the plant. It shuddered again, but settled down quickly without another fuss.

She waited for the notification window to pop up signaling the possession of new loot. And she waited. And waited. But it didn't come.

She was simply holding a piece of the environment.

It seemed simple, but in her eyes in was a monolithic discovery.

It was such a wonderful sensation she felt in her hand. The coolness of the orb shot shivers of awe through her body. She felt every little movement inside the little organic mystery, every slosh of cool water, every division of every cell; far more than she should have been able to. Slowly her fingers came up and cradled the orb. Slowly they collapsed together and applied more pressure, slowly pushing on the ultrathin membrane of the orb. It's absolutely perfect shape began to morph with the pressure...slowly...slowly…

 _splish…_

She shuddered.

The orb exploded with the delicacy of a butterfly's wings, and the rush of cool ether flooded down over her hand, trickling through the cracks in her fingers. It trickled so slowly, so slightly tickling the edge of her senses like the caress of a feather.

So. Utterly. Real.

She had to find Roamer. Maybe she had underestimated him after all.

 **KIRITO**

Kirito had known he had made the right decision when he had immediately invested in his Search skill, specifically the tracking aspect. He was this close. He could practically smell it. Well, not really, but he pretended he could.

Games seemed to bring out the best in him. No matter what it was, he was almost more confident behind a virtual mask. Though in this world, that translated into a benefit he had never quite imagined. His strength was unlike anything he possessed in the real world.

Not wanting to dwell on such thoughts and get back to the task at hand, he quickly activated his Tracking skill again. A pair of incandescent, green footsteps, only visible to him, took about five steps in a specific direction. Bingo.

He had been following the trail for two whole floors. He had missed two Boss Raids, which he was sure to catch flak for at some point, just because this damn - whatever it was - was so elusive.

Elusive but sloppy as hell! This was the fifth grouping of crossbolt arrows he had discovered in game, stripped of all it's loot, lying in the open jungle. There was no way he was the only one who knew about this at this point. He needed to end this game of cat and mouse.

His Agility stat was high, but he had to imagine if this person/monster/thing was gifted in fleeing, then whatever he was chasing had one that must have rivaled his. Which was no small feat. He had to stay on his guard as well.

The fauna of the jungle fell fairly easily to Kirito's blade, though he had to keep an extra careful eye out for plants that could inflict Poison or any other number of crippling status effects. You never knew with these jungle type field zones.

And then he heard it. He certainly didn't see it, or hear where it came from. He just heard it. Slicing through the air.

And then white, hot pain in his shoulder.

"Ah bastard fuck! As a gamer, Kirito would admit to anyone he had a foul mouth, but he was sure that anyone who experience this sort of pain would have agreed with him. The words of Kayaba Akihiko echoed in his brain.

 _Of course, it wouldn't feel real if you couldn't feel...the pain..would it?_

He collapsed to his knees and shuddered in agony, his teeth clutching together tighter than the jaws of life. He glanced through his bleary vision to see the end of a crossbow bolt sticking straight through his shoulder, shimmering in the lowlight almost playfully at him. As if mocking him. He felt the warm drench of blood seep down his right side.

"Fuck please! I'm not here to hurt you! Holy shit this really hurts!" It was his only shot. He must have sounded desperate, but that's because he was most certainly, utterly, undeniably desperate. "Seriously, parlay! Truce! Olive Branch! Uhm - I don't know any more clever terms for how to make peace but I'm not lying!" Even if he were, he thought tragically, he was in no position to fight back. His sword arm was crippled. He could switch arms but...he would not be as strong.

He heard footsteps.

 _Yes!_

Then he heard the sound of wood on wood. Then a crank, crank...and the sound of some sort of rope of string becoming very, _very,_ tight.

"Don't move."

Oh shit. This probably looked really badass though. Damn the gamer the in him.

"Uhm, greetings, kind friend-san. Dunno if you're Japanese, but I'm trying to be as polite as possible right now." Honesty was the best policy. When there was a gun to your head.

"I am."

"Great! So am I! I'm from-"

"Shut up, you should know I don't want to know that."

"You're right, Gomen, Gomen. You speak English very well, most people in this game do. Odd though that most players are Japanese though right?" He didn't want to move, but he was pretty sure it was a girl he was talking to. She sounded fierce and totally awesome, and he really, really wanted to get a look at her. Klein may have thought he was naive, but, c'mon, he obviously totally wasn't. No one is that stupid.

"Are you flirting with me?"

She was pretty smart though.

"Ahaha...just trying to lighten the mood. I'm also in a lot of pain right now. You know - you shot me with a crossbow bolt - and I feel like I'm dying." He glanced up at his HP Bar and read the numbers: 1786/2255. "Oh not that bad! Wait, this isn't poison tipped is it?"

"Poison tipped?" She asked curiously, and then a devastating thought hit Kirito.

"Oh my god. Aigo was right. You're a friggin' noob!"

"You say that with a bolt loaded at the back of your head!" Forgetting his manners was all too common of him. He was digging himself deeper.

"I can teach you!" He suddenly shouted. "I mean, not how to fight, but about the game and stuff. What do you say? Seriously I need to do something about this wound." He was really pleading with her now. But what else could he do? If she were looking at him, he was hoping he could puppy dog eye her into submission. He new his face was youthful and ever-so-slightly feminine, no need to let pride get in the way of that. He heard her sigh.

"How do I know you're not lying?"

"I bet I'm way higher level than you. I'm Level 38, I have over 2000 maximum HP." He stated quickly. "I can show you if you let me open up my window." He heard tapping, most likely a foot, as she pondered his request.

"Make it quick, don't do anything stupid." He nodded and quickly opened up his menu, making it accessible to other viewers. He heard her shift behind him. Silence.

"Okay, hold still."

"Wha-"

He felt her palm go flat on his back.

"What are you-"

He felt something shift and the bolt got tugged backwards.

"OH NO-!"

She ripped the bolt out quicker than lightning, and Kirito felt white hot pain sear through his shoulder.

"AHAAAHAAAHAAAHAA!" He collapsed forward onto his arms, writhing in pain. He felt two strong arms turn him over and pin him down.

"Hold still!"

"FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF-" It was the only sound he could make, his lip clenched between his two teeth, drawing a miniscule amount of blood. She grunted and pulled a bolt out of what seemed to be her hand-made quiver and stabbed it onto his leg. He saw his HP drop slightly more. But then he felt his body go numb. He then looked under his bar and saw the icon for Paralysis.

"And I know how to poison my arrow tips, I was just playing dumb, jackass." She stated as she tapped on his chest, bringing up a window linked to the Battle Heal skill. "I should be able to heal this."

"Can't I use a healing crystal?"

"This will scar and give you an Infection status if you don't tend to it."

"A what status?" He had never heard of infection status before. Another upgrade from the beta?

"Just hold on." Though he was paralyzed, he could still move his eyes. He saw her tap a few buttons before another screen popped up. She started some sort of minigame that looked like she was...stitching...his skin back together?

"Uhm...is that a minigame?"

"Do you always ask a million dumb questions?"

"I'm sorry it's just...I've never seen that before. I was a beta tester, and there was nothing close to that complicated in it." And as he said it he realized he did not mean to. "Ow!" He felt a tiny pin prick in his shoulder area. She seemed surprised for a moment but she hid it well.

"Sorry, I messed up in the minigame." She answered quietly. He gawked at her. She messed up in the minigame, and he _felt it?_

Okay, where was Aigo when you needed her.

He decided to remain silent for the rest of the procedure, mulling over his thoughts on all of what had transpired. As he did he had a chance to get a look at the girl. She had neon, almost seafoam green hair that was tied in two small braids that framed her face, while the rest was a sort of cute, boyish cut. Her eyes were brown however, though they held a quality of...distance, Kirito would describe it as, to them. Her armor was lightweight, a simple set of cheap platemail, with a green and white cloak draped around her shoulders. Under the armor was a form fitting, one shade lighter green jumpsuit that hugged her generous curves and stopped about mid thigh-level, exposing the rest of her tanned legs. Around her neck was a scarf, the same lighter shade of green on one side, silver on the other. She was quite beautiful. Maybe...15? A year younger than him? Didn't matter.

She finally finished and felt some of the pain ebb away. Only some though.

"All done. It may still scar, but we won't know until it heals. Takes about a day, maybe two, depending on how well I did." She stated it as if she cared not whether she did it well. He chuckled anyway.

"Arigatou. My name is Kirito. I'd shake your hand but I can't move my arm." He smiled anyway, trying to seem as cheerful as possible despite the seemingly grievous wound.

"...Sinon. And you have another hand." She stated, extending her own hand. He took it and weakly shook it. And then he felt her grip tighten. Like a vice grip.

"Oh c'mon, I thought we were done with the-"

"Why were you following me?" Alright, so she probably had a fair reason to be annoyed about that he decided. She really led him on quite a chase.

"You're really good at running you know that? But you're very sloppy. I found trails of litters of crossbow bolts that led me right to you." He explained honestly, earning a humble look from the girl.

"I didn't even know. I assumed they'd disappear. I mean, it's a game right?" She shook her head.

"No, normally you would be right." They both knew this was different. "But you have to believe me when I say I come in peace. I mean, I'm sure you can guess the reason…" His eyes drifted to her unique weapon, and she clutched it tightly.

"Watch it." Her tone was dangerous. His eyes widened.

"Hey hey! No, that's not what I mean! I mean, I just had to figure out where these crossbow bolts were coming from. According to every interview I read with Kayaba, there was never supposed to be a weapon like that in the game." He stated, staring at it so unquenchably curious. She nodded, as if she had the same sentiment. "You know, something like that would be a real boon in completing the game." He suggested, brushing upon his purpose in searching for what was now her, Sinon.

"I'm aware." She stated neutrally. He really wasn't going to get anything out of her.

"Alright, look, I promised you I would teach you about the game. I will. However, if I do, will you at least consider listening to what I have to say?" It was really the least he could bargain for, and her body language seemed to concede that, though her tone said she was not happy.

"Fine. Can you fight?" He could tell she didn't want to have to look after him like an injured lamb.

"I'll be fine with my off-hand, but I won't be as strong as normal. I think you should be able to support me pretty well though. Just please, please - don't shoot me again? Onegaishemaisu?"

XxX

"Is that your natural hair color?" Her answer was in the form of an icy glare. "Alright, you don't appreciate comedy, I get it." Kirito chuckled.

"You're not as funny as you think." Her verbal reply was as icy as her stare. Really, he didn't get why she was so cold to him, he wasn't the one who shot her.

"I get that a lot, I think I'm misunderstood." At that a faint grin tugged at her lips, and he pointed at her. "See! No one can resist laughing at someone, even if they're just acting dumb."

"As long as you admit you're dumb." His cheeks expanded at her jibe.

"So will you listen to my piece then?" He asked suddenly, wiggling his eyebrows. He was sure he couldn't do that in real life. She sighed and nodded.

"Fine. You answered all my questions I'll answer yours." They were situated in the base of a hollowed out tree Sinon had made residence in the past few nights. It was just barely big enough for three people to lay in shoulder to shoulder, but two could sit relatively comfortably in it. The keyword being relatively. Kirito's left shoulder was uncomfortably scrunched up against the inside wall, but other than that he couldn't complain.

"I'll start with the obvious one. How, " He pointed at the crossbow, "the hell did you get that?"

"I started the game with it." She stated as if it were supposed to have happened all along. As if she had been great friends with Kayaba Akihiko in life and in passing before launch day had suggested she start the game with a crossbow.

"You started with it." Unbelievable. "Right. Okay." He shook his head. "Is that a joke or-"

"I started with it." Her tone was firm this time. And though he wasn't some sort of expert on reading body language, he actually believed her.

"You weren't a beta-tester or family of a staff member or something were you?" He went on, his curiosity piqued. She shook her head.

"No, I applied to try out SAO for...different reasons than most." She stated cryptically. "This is only the second video game I've ever owned."

"What was the first?" He asked immediately, the nerd in him seizing control.

"You may never have heard of it, it's very old. It's for one of the first handheld systems called Game Boy Advanced. Final Fantasy VI." Kirito's eyes shot wide open.

"You own an original copy...of Final Fantasy VI…?" His eye twitched. She seemed taken aback by his sudden...lapse in function.

"It was my father's…" She stated quietly, to which he snapped out of his stroke of jealousy and cocked his head.

"Was? I'm sorry, that must mean you lost him." He sympathized, earning a slightly baffled glare from Sinon, a blush spreading across her cheeks.

"It's o-okay...I was very young…" She trailed off, looking away. "Thank you." He nodded.

"So, would you come with me and join the front lines?" This grabbed her attention again. "I have friends there. You'd be a lot safer." The wariness that Kirito had prodded her to shed cloaked itself around her once more.

"I've survived this long because I've avoided people." She stated, her grip tightening around the grip of her weapon. "Even if there are people you trust, there will be plenty more you don't." He couldn't deny that, but knew staying out on her own would also paint a target on her back.

"Look, either way, people are going to find you." He was trying to be as blunt as possible with her. "I found you, and I'm not the best tracker in this game. And people will only get better. If you ally yourself with the strongest group now, you have the highest chance of survival." He hated to put it in those terms, but it was the truth.

She considered his words, swirling them around in her mouth and feeling out their taste and consistency, until she sighed and rubbed her eyes.

"I'll come with you. But I can't promise you anything else." She relented, earning a smile from the black-haired boy.

"Great! Then as soon as-" He was interrupted by an odd sensation. One he couldn't figure out right away because as his brain scanned the potential list of sensations to match the current one to, it skipped right over it because it couldn't have been right. It felt like someone was pouring...water...on him. He looked up.

He shouldn't have.

Clinging to the inside wall of wood was a squirrel. Peeing in his face. Sinon erupted with boisterous laughter.

"You're right Kirito. You're pretty funny."

Kayaba...you are one sick, sick, man.

 **ROAMER**

"What could possibly be so important…" His question went unanswered as he leaned against the rough, stone wall in the shaded alleyway. He had no residence as of yet, and Aigo refused to reveal the location of hers, so their meetings were usually restricted to secluded places such as these. He had been waiting for about fifteen minutes now. He didn't necessarily mind, patience was something he had in excess, but he was certainly curious about what Aigo was in a fit about.

 _ **AVOLEN. NOW.**_

Usually she added in an emoji or some sort of finger drawing (the most common one being a paw print) in the corner. But no. Bold and all caps. She was serious as serious could be in the world of digital messaging.

Waves of sunlight fluttered through the alleyway, the sun at an angle just high enough to be directly in his eyes. His head was pointed toward the ground, studying the specks of dirt that pooled around his shoes, noticing every little detail of the earth. The subtle bumps and bends in the ground, the cracks and splinters in the foundations of the buildings, the bits of weed that grew here and there...so realistic. Every step he took in this world introduced him to sights his mortal eyes could never dream of. Only in this world was every speck of dirt more beautiful than a sea of stars in the real world. Maybe tonight he would find a spot to stargaze.

His ears twitched as they picked up the smallest echo of a scuffle somewhere around him. He leaned forward and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"Argo?"

He heard more shuffling, and then two cat ears poked out from around the corner of an off shooting alley. It brought a smile to his lips. She stepped out and sighed, sulking as she submitted her defeat.

"You're the only person I can't sneak up on." He couldn't help but chuckle as her lips sunk into a pout. He loved her game, but he knew her game well. Cuteness was a second line of defense.

"They say cats have nine lives because they become overconfident." He raised his arms like a cat's paws and took a step forward on his tip-toe. "Every once in awhile," Slowly, toe by toe, he crept up and then pretended to pounce like a cat on its prey, "they miss a step."

"You can stop being an idiot now. No one says that."

"I said it."

"Will you shut up? I was beginning to think you weren't an idiot before I got here, but clearly I was woefully mistaken." She was giving him that glare, that glare that all women had programmed into the muscles of their faces that, in layman's terms, said 'get serious or die'. He knew it well.

"I play my role and I play it well." He really didn't know why he messed with her so much, but it was probably because she was one of the only people he talked to. He craved human contact, and he supposed this was his only outlet, so all of his personality would surge out at once. He had to admit it was fun.

"Okay so I'm just gonna come out and say it, because someone clearly dropped the needle on you in the wrong spot, and you're on Side C Track 9." She brushed aside his shenaninganery and took a step closer. "I think you're right. The game is...changing." His eyes widened at her admission.

"Evolving." He corrected sharply. "Why the sudden change of heart?" She sighed and looked up at him. He could see she was slightly fearful of her own revelation.

"I found a plant...the most wonderful, amazing plant in the jungle. It was more beautiful than I could ever hope to describe with words." Her words were soft and gentle, and he could tell even then that she was staring at it in her mind's eye, once again so enthralled by it's splendor, whatever it was. "It was too real. So I went up to it and touched it. And it was alive Roamer. In the way that any life can recognize life at it's most vulnerable and basic level, it knew I was there." Her anxiety and excitement grew as she went on, and Roamer would even say she seemed passionate about her explanation. Aigo took her craft seriously. She wanted him to truly know how she felt in that moment, as best as her own words would allow her. "And then, I reached out and plucked one of the...ah I I don't even know what to call it. Just a part of the plant, I took it in my hand as if it were my own. But no loot window opened up, and no event or quest started. I just held it. And then I squished it in my hand, and it broke apart, and it was...it was the realest thing I've ever felt in my entire life." She was really shaking now, shuddering with every word she uttered. He had never seen her so scared before, so suddenly. "Roamer...what if you're right? What if this game is evolving? How will we ever beat it?" She took another step forward and crashed into his chest, the damn finally bursting under the pressure of the flood. Roamer felt the front of his tunic begin to dampen. She was right, this seemed far too real, even for the standards of this game.

"Argo...you've already taken the first steps towards that by believing me." He stated, causing her to lean back and look at him, a glimmer of hope in her eyes. "The only way we can beat this game is by learning everything about it. And who better to teach them than The Wind, whose breeze can reach even the most distant corners of the world." He smiled warmly at her, and she stared at him for a few moments and then burst into giggles. He simply continued to stare at her. Finally after her fit subsided she patted him on the chest twice and leaned back.

"You know...for a moment...you almost sounded cool Roamer. But, " and she couldn't hold back another quick burst of giggles, "you're really just a dildo." He should have seen it coming, and though he hadn't, he couldn't help but begrudgingly laugh. "But…"

She leaned forward and hugged him again.

"You're my dildo."

"Phrasing. Boom."

...

"Wow I walked into that one." She broke the hug and gave him a disarming look. "I'll let that one slide as payment for keeping your mouth shut about this."

"Are you kidding? I'm the lone confidant of the The Wind, to whom she whispers all her secrets. Lady luck has treated me well." His grin was back, and she shook her head in exasperation.

"Yeah well, your luck won't hold out for long if you stay a solo-player." Ah, and her came the obligatory invitation to join the forces of the front lines as she was consistently want to do. "Join them Roamer."

"You know, you're a bit of a hypocrite yourself. You tell me to join them yet here you are." He pointed out, to which she did not deny.

"You're right, but I don't get into fights as often as you do. I'm not a mercenary, I'm a spy, more or less. You tackle dungeons by yourself and have one of the highest levels in the game...you're a frontliner in all but setting and direction." She cast her eyes downward, letting her hood shield her face. "If you won't join them, at least come with me…" His eyes widened. That he hadn't expected.

"You? The lone wolf?"

"I'm not that prideful." She admitted shamelessly. "I could use an extra set of hands, could make my job easier." She looked back up at him, and he could tell she really wanted him to say yes. For her sake and his own. He was torn, between a yearning and fear. But he couldn't say no. How could he?

"Alright Aigo." She slowly smiled at him, and he knew he made the right choice. It was worth that smile alone.

 **XAXA**

"Oh fuck...oh shit oh …" He hadn't meant to. If the stupid kid had just _listened_ to him and dropped all of his gear…

Paranoia opened up over him like tempest, and he quickly bolted from the scene, leaving the corpse of the young player lying in the jungle. Like the pistons of an engine his legs pumped and propelled him forward, further and further away from the scene. He collapsed to the ground and thrashed his hands through sweaty locks of hair, tugging hard on his scalp.

"Nobody saw...you can just pretend like it never-oh shit!" It wouldn't matter how much he pretended, he realized. His player cursor would forever be marred red, like the blood on his hands. "Fuck!"

 _Rustle…_

With a startled gasp he leapt to his feet and turned around, drawing his Lusting Estoc and swinging it wildly.

"Stay back!" A dark robed figure emerged from the underbrush, calm as the swaying leaves. His entire figure was shrouded by black fabric, except for his face, which was covered by a mask. Burnt steel in color, nightmarish in design. Where there would normally be eyes there was only a small slit. Where there was a mouth were instead stitches carved into a mouth that had been sewn together, ripped open and sewn together again. And from forehead to chin, and everywhere in between, were small little eyeballs with stitches through the irises, bloodshot and begging for release from their eternal darkness.

"Do not fear…" His voice was deep, as if spoken through a thick tube of metal. "There is a place for you my child…" Xaxa took a step back and fumbled, falling on his backside.

"No…" He murmured desperately. "No I didn't!" His cries of agony curdled in his throat.

"Death is no sin in this world...it is the stones in which we forge the road ahead with." The hooded man was before him now, no hint of fear or any heightened awareness at all. He only had eyes for XaXa. "If you follow me, I can show you that road." The cloaked figure held his hand out, and XaXa could only stare in fear and regret. "Embrace it." Slowly XaXa's shaking subsided, and his breathing quelled to a normal rate. The fear still writhed alive inside inside him. "Your fear...use it as your weapon. It will be the whetstone upon which you sharpen your blade. It will be the fire that galvanises your power…"

It sounded so appealing...this rush that he felt...to use it...the thrill…

He looked down at his hands, the hands soaked in the blood of his crime. He brought them together and rubbed them with great fervor, feeling the coagulating liquid squirm underneath his fingers. His eyes followed the trails of crimson as they seeper further and further down his arm. He grabbed his sword. He lunged forward, faster than a flash of light.

CLANG

The estoc flew through the air, spinning end over end, and fell point-first into the earth.

"What is your name?" XaXa asked, slowly collecting himself. He crouched to his knees and bowed. "So that I may know whom it is I follow." A chuckle erupted like boiling lava from the cloaked figure's hidden lips.

"You may call me, PoH…"

XxX

 **A/N: So my absence didn't last long.**

 **This comes on the tail of binge watching the SAO series and the reading the light novels. I like it a lot, and I wanted to do something with it. This came pretty easily, the ending was a bit tough but that was because I was forcing it. It's at a good place now. I deleted everything that felt forced.**

 **Uh I don't really want to say much about this, I just want you to figure it all out. The one thing I will say is yes, I know her name is "Argo" not "Aigo", but in the light novels the translator shows he clearly does not understand how to/or what research is and spells her name "Algo". So this is my way of making fun of that. There's also another reason but that's all I'll say.**

 **So each of these chapters is gonna be roughly this length. I wanted to do it GoT Style, but if I was stuck doing one character a chapter this would take way too long. So, the way this will basically work is, each chapter will take place in a new 'decade' of floors, if you will. This one, as you can see, was on the 11th and 15th, with quick bits on the 10th and 1st. Some will include 2 floors, some will include 3, some could take place all in one. I wouldn't expect this to go past 12 or thirteen chapters at the most. I'm aiming for about 11…**

 **I guess what I want to hear from you is which character PoVs do you like/dislike the best. I already have some ideas for more as we go on, but I want to see which ones resonate the most.**

 **Also, I'm looking for a Beta. Let me know if you're interested.**

 **Thanks for reading, and hopefully I'll finish this one.**

 **I don't own Sword Art Online.**


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